The game of chess is a two-player board game played upon an eight square by eight square game board. In chess there is a plurality of sixteen game pieces. In chess the game pieces are set up on the first two rows of each player""s side. In chess there are six different types of game pieces, each of which has it""s own unique set of movements. In chess, turns alternate between the two opposing black and white game pieces. In chess, the game pieces represent a hierarchy of power within a feudal system were lesser empowered game pieces are expendable, strategically used to force moves of the opponent""s higher-ranking game pieces.
Chess is an intriguing game but does not work well with the concept of one board with overlapping layers of playing fields. Chess has many complicated rules and movements, and virtually no element of chance.
A large number of chess games, chess-like games, expanded chess, enlarged and unique shaped game boards have been proposed over the years. There are some chess-like games, of which have been issued patents, where there exists an element of chance, concealment, change in direction, or control of multiple sets of game pieces.
U.S Pat. No. 4,546,981 to Elizondo describes a checkers or chessboard with detachable strips that could be turned one hundred-eighty degrees thus changing the direction of the game pieces where they reside.
U.S Pat. No. 4,093,237 to Weiss describes a two to four-player chess-like game whereby the initial setup of the game pieces were concealed by placement of blinders in front of each player""s game pieces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,159 to Fortunato et al. describes a chess game involving dice as a chance element and money.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,887 to Christie, Jr. describes a medieval military conflict board game for two to four-player whereby said game uses dice and different decks of cards as elements of chance. The cards are drawn and consist of, magic cards, lair cards, guardian cards, ancient relic cards, and defeated playing piece markers. The cards provide instructions during the play of the game.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,602 to McLoy describes a four-player chess game whereby the object is to eliminate the opposing kings and checkmate the last king. The game is played in teams or singles. In singles play, an opposing king is checkmated whereby all the conquered player""s game pieces are removed from the board. This is done until only two players remain and one of the kings is checkmated.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,029 to Carmichael et al. describes an educational game for teaching chess that can use playing markers and chess type dice and cards that requires the winner be the player who scored the most captured chess pieces.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,474 to Tachlov et al. describes a two to four-player chess-like game whereby alliances may be formed and dissolved, and one army may control other armies.
The above patents are generally variations of chess in one way or another, that require sophisticated instructions that significantly add to the existing instructions of chess type play with or without additionally physical objects such as blinders and dice. None of these games applies the combination of a game having the sophistication of chess, yet is simpler to play than chess and has greater unpredictability than chess.
A primary objective of the invention is to provide a game board with playing pieces and methods of play that is as sophisticated as chess, has greater levels of chance and unpredictability and is simple to play.
A secondary objective of the invention is to provide a game board such as a chess board with playing pieces and methods of play using playing cards that are combined with the movements of the playing pieces for use with two to four players.
A third objective of the invention is to provide a game board such as a checkers board with playing pieces and methods of play using playing cards that are combined with the movements of the playing pieces for use with two to four players.
A fourth objective of the invention is to provide a game board such as an eight by eight grid with playing pieces and methods of play using playing cards that are combined with the movements of the playing pieces for use with two to four players.
DiCon was initially conceived as a game idea of a multi-layered overlay graph. The idea of multiple overlays then was adapted for board game use, theorizing that games could be played on one game board but on several virtual-overlay levels as long as the game is broken into individual elements.
By using virtual-overlays, called Planes of Play, to formulate the game and explain the travel of direction oriented game pieces, DiCon can be a complex game with simple rules. The use of Alternate Movement Cards brings an element of chance to the game. The complexity of the game increases as the number of players and as the options increase, thereby giving players the chance to increase to higher levels of skill.
The name, DiCon, is derived from Di, which means two; and con, which has several meanings but is used in the context of, to study or to deceive. The Di part of the DiCon, represents the two virtual layers of thought that must be maintained, pertaining to the game-piece orientation and movements, and the orientation of the Additional Movement Cards. The Con part of DiCon, represents the deception and study part, whereby the concealed cards and individual game piece movements are used to form a strategy of play.
DiCon is not a chess game but has some similarities. The type of game board in DiCon is similar to chess. In chess and DiCon there is a plurality of sixteen game pieces. In chess and DiCon there are six different types of game pieces each of which has a unique set of standard movements. In chess and DiCon, turns alternate between the two opposing colors of game pieces.
DiCon has a plurality of sixteen game pieces that are unlike chess pieces in that they have a front and a back, and the moves have orientation that is directly related to the facing direction of the game piece. When a game piece reaches the limits of the play board, on the facing opponent""s camp, the game piece is turned around to face the opposite direction. When the game piece is turned around, the game piece ""standard movements, of which are oriented to the direction the game piece is facing, are also turned around.
There is a chance element of up to 50 cards, where each player is dealt seven or eleven cards, forty-nine of which represent an additional single-space movement in one of eight different directions; or the Swap card is used. Dealing the cards is done by alternately dealing rounds of cards to the players. The card hand is concealed from the opponents, only to reveal a card when it is played. The orientation of the movement in which the card represents is always oriented to the view of the player who plays the card, even if the direction of selected game piece has changed.
In the two-player game, the player who does not deal the cards makes the first board move. In the four-player game, the player to the left of the dealer makes the first board-move. The turns at dealing of cards is done in a clockwise fashion as well.
In DiCon, the game pieces represent a hierarchy of power within a professional military type system whereas no game piece is expendable and even the perceived least powerful game pieces may win the game. The focus of play is from the perspective of the warrior, not the ruler""s view. The game piece movements are not forced by sacrifice. When the cards are dealt, each player, making use of the Additional Movement Cards, forms strategies to capture opposing game pieces. The use of this element of surprise, when a game card is played, makes any game piece formidable.
The four-player game has a larger fourteen by fourteen square play-board and uses a quadruple of sixteen game pieces, each set of sixteen being of a different color. This expansion of the game to a four-player board does not change the basic rules of the game, however additions are added to the rules. The object of the four-player game is to win by being the player with the only Lion game piece left. When an opponent""s Lion game piece is captured, that player is out of the game; and the conquered opponent relinquishes all of his or her game pieces and cards to the conquering player. The conquered game pieces remain in their original positions whereby the conquering player controls said pieces. One player can control his or her own game pieces and cards, and up to two conquered armies each of which travels on their own Plane of Play.
Unlike chess, DiCon strategies cannot be predicted too many moves ahead. A player""s long thought out strategies can be dashed as easily as the presentation of a card.
The subject invention is unique in many ways: The unpredictability of DiCon combines, game piece movements and card plays, the special game piece attributes that are aligned with the facing direction of the game pieces, the addition of the concealed Additional Movement Cards of chance, and the ease of expandability, to make DiCon a unique game.
In a brief summary of the figures DiCon is a game of chance, strategy, and skill of which uses a chess-like play board, a plurality of sixteen game pieces of which are two colors and fifty playing cards. The game pieces are arranged in the first two rows of each player""s side, FIG. 1. Each of the six types of game pieces have individual restricted movements of play of which are unique to that type of piece, FIGS. 3-8. Each game piece has a front and back of which indicates the facing direction and orientation of the standard movements of each individual game piece, FIG. 2. Each type of game piece, except the Lion, is represented by a set of eight cards, each of which indicates an additional single space movement in one of eight directions radiating from a central square of a three by three square grid on each card, FIGS. 9-13. The additional movement provided by any of these facsimile or theme cards translates directly to the game piece square on the game board, as would the directional arrow within the central square of the three square by three square grid illustrated on the face of the presented card. The game piece is then moved as per the illustration on the card one square in the direction of the pointing arrow. The orientation of a card when it is presented is always to the view of the presenter and his or her original seating position at the game board, FIG. 16. There is a Wild card, as in FIG. 15; a Swap card, as in FIG. 14; and an additional set of eight cards representing the Ram game piece. The increased number of game cards for the Ram game piece increases the Ram""s effectiveness in the game. Each player is dealt an equal number of seven or eleven cards. The cards are concealed from view of the opponent or opponents only to reveal a single card when it is played. The object of the game is to position the game pieces on the play board by using the standard game piece movements thereby capturing the opponent""s game pieces by use of an additional movement card or by the standard movements alone, as in FIGS. 17-21. The limitations of the movements of the individual game pieces are extended when a card is played thereby surprising the opponent with an extended movement and capturing the opponent""s game piece. There are two choices when an additional movement card is played: Take the card movement first or take the standard game piece movement first. The choice depends greatly on whether the path to a destination square is blocked in one direction but not another. The Swap card is unlike the other forty-nine cards in that two game pieces of the same color may be swapped; then the standard game piece movement is taken with one of those swapped pieces. The luck of the card deal determines, in great part, the strategy a player will formulate to capture game pieces and win the game. Most game piece movements are made without the use of the cards and in fact an entire game can be played without the use of the cards. The cards, however, make playing the game more intriguing, intense, and personal.
The four-player game of DiCon uses a fourteen square by fourteen square grid or checkered type board, as in FIG. 22. Cards are dealt and turns are taken in a clockwise fashion. The player directly to the left of the dealer moves first. Each player has set of sixteen game pieces, each set of which is of a different color. The play of a four-player game is no different than the play of a two-player game until one player captures another player""s Lion game piece. When another player""s Lion game piece is captured, the conquered player relinquishes his or her game pieces and playing cards to the conquering player. The conquered player is out of the game. The board position of the conquered game pieces does not change nor are the game pieces removed. The conquering player, from that point, takes the regular rotating turns that the conquered player would be taking as if that person were still there. The conquering player from his or her original seating position directs any moves made with the conquered game pieces. Any cards played must be oriented to the view of the conquering player from his or her original seating position, even if the cards being played came from the conquered player, as in FIG. 16. One player can control as many as three sets of game pieces during a four-player game.
An extra option for the four-player game is to play as Level Four Player game, whereby any game piece that reaches the limits of the game board on any of the four sides, will be turned to face the inner part of the game board, thereby said game piece changes its Plane of Play, yet retains the game piece attributes as before. A Plane of Play is a term referring to the facing direction of travel of an individual game piece. In the four-player game there are four Planes of Play. If this option is chosen, then any player can have game pieces of their original set traveling on all four Planes of Play. When this option is chosen, conquered sets of game pieces and cards can lead to a more complicated game of two or three sets of game pieces traveling on four Planes of Play, all controlled by a single player.
Additionally options can be used for either the two or four-player games. One option is whether to set up the game pieces in any arrangement of order on the first two rows of each player""s home camp. Another option is whether to deal seven or eleven cards to each player. All options should be agreed upon before setting up the game board and dealing the cards to each player.
In both the two-player and four-player versions, the object of the game is to have the only Lion game piece left on the board. As players become skillful in the two-player game, they can transition to the four-player game; and then again to become Level Four Players.
In the invention and in war, the effectiveness of the warriors(basic game pieces) is to protect their commander, the Lion game piece, and pursue a victory, is bound by chance, strategy, and skill. The expansion of the warrior""s movements in the subject invention is a departure from chess and the feudal system it represents. DiCon represents a view of war where sacrifice of less powerful pieces is not encouraged as it is in chess. The game of DiCon represents the warrior""s view of war.